Editorial: McCain’s stand against N.C. campaign ad a hopeful sign

Tuesday

Apr 29, 2008 at 12:01 AMApr 29, 2008 at 12:51 AM

GOP presidential candidate John McCain has our attention. No, it’s not his stance on the war or the economy, it’s because he opted for the political high road. And that’s a road seldom traveled in an election year.

GOP presidential candidate John McCain has our attention. No, it’s not his stance on the war or the economy, it’s because he opted for the political high road. And that’s a road seldom traveled in an election year.

The Republican leadership in North Carolina is running an anti-Barack Obama ad using racially-charged clips from Jeremiah Wright, the preacher whose church Obama has attended for 20 years. Actually, the ad is intended to discredit two gubernatorial candidates who endorsed Obama, but what’s a little collateral damage among enemies?

Rather than turning his head and benefitting from the carnage, McCain asked North Carolina Republicans to stop the ad. Even though they ran the ad anyway, McCain was right to speak up, calling for higher-minded campaigning. Showing the Wright clips over and over again plays on the fears and emotions of voters rather than their intellect.

“We are the party of Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan, and this kind of campaigning is unacceptable,” McCain told NBC’s “Today” last week.
Ironically, it’s Obama who has campaigned for a change in politics. And for the most part, he’s done a pretty good job.

For example, during the Pennsylvania debate against his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton, a beleaguered Obama still found the high road.

Debate moderators Charlie Gibson and George Stephanopoulos questioned Obama on a series of character issues, including whether he was more patriotic than Wright.
Obama mostly floundered and, consequently, Clinton pounced. She took advantage of the opening and flailed away. Who could blame her? She’s losing.

Yet when the topic turned to Clinton avoiding “sniper fire” in Bosnia, it was she who struggled to explain how she’d gotten the story so wrong — “I was not as accurate as I have been in the past.”

With her reeling, the moderators provided Obama with a clean shot at her. Instead of taking it, Obama said voters should give her the benefit of the doubt.

“Sen. Clinton deserves the right to make some errors once in awhile; obviously I’ve made some as well.”

He went on to say there is too much at stake for voters to focus on the candidates’ gaffes.

He’s right. The problem is, of course, that focusing on an opponent’s perceived shortcomings works. And silly topics such as whether a candidate wears an American flag lapel pin save voters from having to deliberate on more important issues. That’s not to say that Obama’s relationship with Wright isn’t relevant — voters can decide how much weight to give it — but when campaigns hit the shallow issues button over and over again ... patriotism, patriotism, patriotism ... voters are not challenged to do their jobs in determining who has the ideas and skills to best run this country.

If the race for president this year turns out to be McCain vs. Obama, we may see a better brand of politics than we’ve seen in decades. At least there’s hope.